Smuggler to Kanchi accused: Don’s journey

Appu has been on the run after the police named him the second accused, after Kanchi Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati, in the murder of Sankararaman.

Born in a lower middle class family, Appu’s father Gopal Naidu had left his village near Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh for Chennai. A withdrawn lad with a slight built then, Appu’s former neighbours in a Chennai suburb recall how he used to spend hours at the gym.

Appu dropped out of Std XI and, after a few years, turned to petty crimes. He slowly graduated to sandalwood smuggling, which offered quick and good returns. ‘‘Most people usually cart sandalwood in bulk running risks of getting caught, but Appu carried small consignments in cars and stayed off trouble. He was never caught, even when some of his men were,’’ recalls a senior police officer. Appu operated from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

‘‘He now has full or part ownership of eight-10 large units processing sandalwood on the sly. Some are in Palakkad in Kerala, managed by people considered to be connected to a powerful Kerala minister,’’ say police sources.

Appu got into the granite quarry contracting and real estate in 1995, using his by-then-substantial connections. He soon became close to an array of political heavyweights in Tamil Nadu, the most notable among them a former DMK minister.

As his network grew, sources said, Appu diversified into other areas, like forcible occupation of prime land and property in the heart of Chennai. ‘‘He is involved in at least a dozen cases where his thugs took over land and buildings. In most, the owners have been too terrified to press charges,’’ a police source said.

Appu, it is said, has some of Tamil Nadu’s most notorious hitmen working under him. Kathiravan, the fourth accused in the Sankararaman murder case who retracted his sworn statement, has been with Appu for years now.

Unlike most other dons, Appu has always avoided confrontations with rival gangs in Chennai. ‘‘He would go to great length to gain the confidence of potential rivals rather than take them on,’’ a source said.

Sources close to the Kanchi mutt say it has not been long since Appu came into contact with the mutt. The don is considered close to a building contractor, Ravi Subramaniam, the third accused in the case. Soon the don was seen frequenting the mutt and gained the pontiff’s confidence.

Police say they have no clue where Appu is at the moment. But sources said he might surrender in the next few days.